Down To The Black Sea

“I… have pretty good senses. I’ve lived in this town almost 27 years. I don’t trust strangers in my town,” she replied, giving a small shrug of her shoulders. “I got to safety, yeah. I stayed in the bar with… a couple of wolves actually,” she told her. “I sensed something so weird that night though. I still do, it’s lingering. I can’t explain it but I just know.” She looked at her, shaking her head. “No, I don’t. They appeared on the full moon, I know they did.”

Without wanting to Saorise had opened up her bookshop as a place for shelter, too. Someone had rushed in and even if she did not really see herself as a friend fo the people of this town - not as long as the council still controlled them all - it had been against even her wicked instincts to send them away. Not in a night like this. She tilted her head to the side as she listened to the young witch speak, not knowing how much of the information she had gathered so far should be shared. “A pack of wolves you say? They can be dangerous but, not during an event like this. Have they spoken about what happened at the museum? Maybe they heard only after, phone service was awful that night”, she mused, not wanting to prey on the tragedy of that dead wolf. “And you are right, Something was off. I am pretty sure the council knows what happened. And who these strangers are. They just think we do not deserve answers.”

Joey nodded slightly, seeing the look on the other’s face. She was onto her. “I like… the fresh air,” she replied, keeping her eyes on the woman. She could feel the energy of magic around them. “I… I am coping. Yes, I guess… I heard some gun shots the other night… something in the air didn’t feel right. And all these people around now. I don’t trust it.”

“You not trusting all this is a good sign actually”, Saorise kept the smile on her face even if her tone grew more serious now. The young witch in front of her - and her aura clearly spoke witch - was right. Something had happened in this town and the changes that had followed were not of the good kind. “I am not sure gun shots were the worst of last night, but you stayed out of it, I hope. This is not something anyone should get involved with unprepared. And yes, I agree. The air feels still wrong, these people feel wrong.” Saorise was not sure why she became so honest but maybe it was because the words already hung between them. “Do you recognise any of those tourists? From before the storm?”

They crossed their arms when they noted Saorise, keeping their distance but also fairly aware of the lack of distance between them. He wished he had the scent of a wolf, though he didn’t need it to feel the traces of magic. He might’ve made a better guess of it, if he dared to use his own skills for more than simple life hacks. He narrowed his eyes a little. “Passing through,” Mentari responded, studying her for a moment, just the tiniest, because he didn’t want her to get ideas as to why he would choose to bother her at night specifically. He offered his own smile in return however, then pointed at the cemetery. “What were you up to?” 

Their reply was as un-telling as she had expected. But Saorise only smiled, she would have done the same. The auras of magic sizzled between them so there was no reason for a game of hide and seek. She simply shrugged her shoulders. “There are not many places in this town as interesting as the old cemetery. I have heard many a legend about this place, so I have grown to visiting it regularly.” The fae door here had been closed centuries ago but that did not mean Saorise was hopeless when it came to opening it again. A way in and out of Holloway without the council knowing could be more than helpful. “Don’t you agree that the early hours of day have their special magic? I think that thoughts started then always travel the farthest.” Yes, she had been doing magic. No, she would not admit more than that. 

Elliot flopped down on the wall, almost out of breath. His heart was racing. He couldn’t get the night before out of his mind. He glanced at the other, pausing a moment before speaking. “I know I’m not a superstitious guy. I never have been. But I… I was taking pictures last night. And this noise… I walked further into the trees. Stupid horror movie moment, I know… but this shadow. It was following me. I swear it was following me.”

The night had been a long one, even a fae like Saorise had to admit that much. And an uneasy one. She had always loved storms, mother nature’s wrath unfolding right before her, energy and magic sizzling within the air. But last night had been different and if the rumours that werewolf had brought into her bookshop were true... well hunters were bad news for everyone in town. So when she stepped out of her bookshop that morning, the golden letterns “Henson” glistening above her head, she did it with a frown on her face. One that simply grew as she listened to the man outside. “Excuse me?”, she pointed towards the store window right beside him, “You are leaning against my front and I will need that to display my book cart.” She was tired, very tired. And she did not wish to listen to any horror stories. Hunters or not, she had never been afraid of shadows. “Maybe just take a step back and take a breath. You were taking pictures? Where? And a shadow? Sure it was not just the wind?” She stepped back herself, hands on her hips, as she tried to assess if any damage had been done to roof or storefront. 

While the cemetery hadn’t ever been a place Lorelai was known to frequent, even before her unceremonious exit from the Holloway Coven, this morning it seemed as though something had drawn her there. It was early, she’d stopped in on her way to the clinic, unsure of precisely what she was expecting, or even hoping, to find. Things were quiet when she arrived, the fog of dawn still clearing from the expanse before her. 

The woman’s voice startled her, and Lorelei turned abruptly on her heel, fingertips flying to the base of her throat. “Oh, gosh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t even hear you walking up!” Chuckling, she dropped her hand. “I’m just…” Taking in a deep breath, she searched for some sort of answer that might make more sense than the truth of the matter. “…I don’t know, to be honest with you. I suppose this just…Felt like the place to be this morning.” She shrugged, offering a smile of her own. “And what about yourself?”

“There is no reason to apologise”, Saorise waved the words off before taking a sip of her coffee. She watched the woman stumble over words and stutter, interest now slightly peaked. Every person in this town had a secret, she had realised that a long time ago. But that fact alone did not mean that every secret was of interest or use to her. Saorise did not really care about most of the drama that was going on in Holloway, so she was surely not going to press should the woman in front of her decide on feeding her some strange excuse. 

That changed though, once she heard the place to be this morning. With her eyebrows now raised Saorise tilted her head to the side. “The place to be? That is a strange choice of words”, she looked over her shoulder back to the cemetery, “Not that I can call it wrong in any way. Some places do have a special draw to them, and cemeteries... Well if not a cemetery than what?” She carefully tried to read the aura of the stranger in front of her, wondering if there really had been a calling, some magic. Like the one she had just practiced on that holy soil behind her. “I used to come here often, I will admit to being that creepy. But a friend of mine, well she loved that place. And since my sleep schedule is all wonkers anyway”, Saorise shrugged her shoulders, “There is nothing more peaceful than a rising sun over long forgotten graves.”

Joey heard footsteps behind her, trying to compose herself. She quickly wiped at her eyes, not wanting the other to see her emotions. “Sorry, sorry. Hey, I was just… out for a walk.” She paused. “I…” she started as she hid her hand behind her back.

Saorise remembered the girl - and her aura of magic - from the last time they ran into each other. “Another walk then?”, a wicked smile drawled her lips upward as the fae approached already interested with what the other was hiding behind her back. When it came to magic Saorise was like a magpie, going wherever she saw something glittering. Especially since her trip with that Ronnie girl. “You? Are you all right though? You seem a bit... How do I say this politely? Stressed? A lot happened in this town lately, if you know what I mean. So it would be only a reasonable reaction.”

“A woman” Ronnie paused, stepping closer for a moment as if just to catch a glimpse. She looked over at the voice, she hadn’t even been sure who she was talking to. But the woman was dark haired, beautiful even… she couldn’t take her eyes off of her. And when she was staring she realised that she’d taken her eyes off of the window. “No… you’re right. Someone could need help… it would be the right thing to do.” 

For Saorise this was more about causing trouble than avoiding it. She was a fae, ancient if you considered human standards - she was not afraid of ghosts nor anything that could hide within that building. Interested at best. “A woman? How very intriguing.”, she mused as the she gave the girl in front of her a quick look over. “I mean yes, of course. Whoever it is could be in need of help. We could call for authorities but who knows how long it might take them to get here? It is surely best if we act immediately. Have you ever been in there? The property is closed off, and in danger of collapsing.” She tilted her head to the side as if she was considering every option. “There should be a way in around the back though.”

Theo had coven business out in the old cemetery. But he wasn’t about to tell a stranger his true reason for being here. She could feel the magic in the air and the magic that surrounded the fae. It was addictive. “I’m a little old for a night out…” He chuckled. “The cemetery is quiet. The perfect place to do some thinking. Is that what you’re doing… thinking?” 

“I surely believe that one is never too old to have some fun.“ Something about his tone made Saorise smile, giving her face a rather wicked appereance. A quick scan of his aura and that smile grew even more. “Yes, thinking. That is exactly what I am doing here. And you are right, a place of silent contemplation, close to those that came before, is very helpful when one needs to think.“ She took another sip out of her cup, not even flinching at the bitter taste of the cold coffee. “You do not know if many people do that? Think out here? I haven't been around for some time, you see, and I was just wondering if someone picked up my habbit...“

Having no job, no real home, no friends or family, and definitely nothing better to do, Orion roamed the streets whenever he saw fit, spend about seven, perhaps eight hours, inside of his room, and all the others outside. He was enjoying the calm and the quiet, the lack of people around him, the and time he could give to committing the place to memory. Not to mention: most supernatural beings seemed to be awake at night. 

He slid off the mailbox he had claimed and slowly nudged closer to the stranger. “Hmm, neither,” he said in response, moving around the witch to get a better look at her. “Simply killing time.” He looked back at the cemetery. “You?” 

She watched him move around her with a silent gaze, slowly sipping her coffee. There was no need to read his aura for he did not seem to be any danger to her. And besides Saorise might have seemed like a 40 year old woman, but she was a fae, a being of old. Her magic had grown even more powerful over time. So during her second stay here in Holloway there was no reason to be scared of any other supernatural beings.

So she smiled. “I have stopped the habbit of killing time. I found out it does that all on its own. But you did pick a nice place for it. I always enjoy the quiet of the cemetery, the chance of speaking to ghosts and visitors alike. It can really clear your head.” For a moment she considered playing with her next reply, feeding him some information about the magic she had just performed, but then Saorise decided against it. With the moon still on the rise there was no reason to make anyone become suspicious of her. “The habbit of sleeping is something I am not very good at either, so I do like to take my morning coffee out here, away from the rest of the world. It always feels like this place is between the times, one could say even between the worlds.” There it was, the fade, her connection to it, fae pride. 

Ronnie had read about the cabin since she’d been in Holloway and somehow she’d never had the time to visit it herself. It was hidden deep in the woods, past the lane’s. Stories of ghosts and figures in the night surrounded the old wooden building. She lifted her camera, jumping as she heard the click of the lens. “Shit.” She glanced around her, other tourists and walkers were around her. “I swear.. i saw someone in the window. Up there.” She pointed. “I thought nobody was allowed inside?” 

@hollowstarters​

Saorise normaly had no reason to go to the cabin in the woods. It was a place for tourists, for ghost stories. Not for real magic. But it was also the place she had first met one of the only friends this city had ever gifted her, so on that anniversary she made it a tradition to close the shop early and come back. Making her way through some tourists, reading auras just for the fun of it, she felt someone jump beside her, followed by a fast line of words. „What?“, Saorise furrowed her brows as she tried to figure out what was being said to her. „Someone in the window? I don't think that is possible...“, she turned her head, gaze drifting to where the other woman was pointing. „Hm, it could be though... Maybe we should check it out? Make sure no one is in there getting in trouble“, a mischievous grin appeared on her face.

The hour was still early in the day as Saorise stepped through the gate of the cemetery and back onto the streets of Holloway. An aura of magic still surrounded her as she carefully avoided the spikes of the iron gates. To her right side, hidden behind an overgrown stone stood the coffee she had left there earlier, now cold. A reminder of the time when Agnes had waited for her after each and every ritual. She picked it up, taking a sip.  A shadow in the corner of her eye made her turn and she flashed a smile. “’morning. Your out here early. Visiting the cemetery or just passing through from a night out?” The magic she had left behind was slowly disappearing, but Saorise still did not want the elder council to know about it. 

x

What was it with people and thinking the worst had happened? Was everyone in this town so morbid? “I’m sure they are just fine”, the wolf grumbled shoving the rest of the previous occupants’ mail in the box. “They probably are just trying to dodge bills or something.”

She could not help but laugh at the other’s reaction. Apparently someone was not in a good mood, and surely not in one for dreaming up bad scenarios. So Saorise decided to simply let it go. “Oh wait”, she lifted her hand while the other was throwing the mail back into the box, “What where they called though? Maybe I can find a way of contacting them.” She stepped back a bit, tilting her head to gaze upon the building in an attempt to remember who had stayed here before. “I know a few people in Holloway”

status: open location: post office @hollowstarters​

Letting out a sigh, Elise slid the incorrect mail into the outgoing slot. “I’ve had this box for over 2 months now”, she said primarily to herself. “You’d think the previous residents would have changed their address by now.”

“Well, who knows?”, Saorise was on the way to her shop when she heard someone speak. She turned to see what the fuss was about. Normaly the fae was not too noisy, but one could never be careful these days, right? “It is possible that they cannot change their address. Do you know if they moved away? Or... if something happened to them maybe?” 

Ethel was always intrigued by such a proposition. The curiosity in her just couldn’t turn it down, she sat gracefully crossing one leg over the other and leaning back into the chair with confidence. Ethel chuckled. “oh darling my life has been a gothic novel, i have quite enough of that. I prefer to read non-fiction in my spare time.”

"I must admit, part of me wants to ask about that", he chuckled before taking another sip from his drink, "I bet your life has been far more interesting than all of the things I read today put together" Gabriel had grown up around the supernatural, after all he was not entirely human himself. Her company did not scare him, although that might have been a stupid thing. "But the rest of me knows that is a line I cannot uncross and some things are rather kept in the dark, are they not?"